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Saturday, 01 August 2009

Helleborus x hybridus

Late winter sees the blooming of one of the few English cottage garden plants which still remain in my garden from those heady years when I really did believe I could recreate a scene from the Cotswolds in suburban Sydney. The hellebore is a beautiful and easy-going perennial for the shaded garden. It is sometimes known as the winter or Lenten rose, and it begins to bloom in July. The original plants were Helleborus orientalis but those seen now are generally complex crosses between that and various other hellebore species, and are known as Helleborus x hybridus and referred to colloquially as Orientalis Hybrids. The large single or double, saucer-like, nodding flowers look as if they have been exquisitely sculpted from wax. Plant breeders have developed many fascinating colours such as pale yellow, near black, purple, slate-grey, green, greenish-pink, greenish-white, pink, clear white or dark plum. Recent hybrids include those with upward-facing blooms; others have frilled 'anemone' centres. The flowers are often spotted, veined or picotee-edged in a contrasting colour, and are very long lasting, remaining attractive until spring. Even as they age, they have a delicate charm. They make good winter floral arrangements floated in a bowl.

Helleborus x hybridus

These hellebores will succeed in Sydney gardens if given the right situation. They relish cool, humus-rich, reasonably moist but well-drained conditions and will not establish well in poor soil. Once they have settled in, however, they are long-lived and tough plants, forming large ground-covering clumps around 45-60 cm tall. When they are happy, they will self-sow. There are other hellebores which prefer sunny, dry spots - these will appear in a future blog.

The Orientalis Hybrids make a good groundcover under deciduous trees as long as there is not severe competition from fibrous roots. The pink or white blooms of shrubs such as Daphne, laurus tinus (Viburnum tinus), Magnolia, Camellia or even Abutilon can be matched with hellebores of similar or harmonising colours and will be in flower at the same time.

Massed hellebores

White hellebores also look very beautiful when grown near silvery-coloured plants which tolerate shaded positions, such as Lamium 'White Nancy' (ht 15cm) or those with white or cream markings on their leaves such as the white-variegated form of Iris japonica (ht 30cm). The white-belled snowflake bulb (Leucojum aestivum, ht 45cm) is an excellent companion, as it enjoys the same garden conditions, and has the same nodding characteristic to its blooms. Pink or purplish flowered hellebores look attractive with ground-covering plants with purple-suffused foliage which can grow in shade, such as Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea'. The dainty sprays of London pride (Crassula multicava, ht 25cm) can also provide a pretty background, as the tiny pink and white stars of this tough succulent groundcover contrast with the bolder flowers of the hellebore. The darkest maroon flowered hellebores could be well matched by a fringe of ebony leaves of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', ht 25cm), and they also look stunning paired with snowflakes.

My Special Publications

"Growing Salvias in Sydney Gardens"

Reader Comments

Some nice suggestions for hellebore companions Deirdre. Maybe its time to let my poor pot-chocked Crassula reside with the hellebores. Thanks for that.
Parkers on Sunday sounds very tempting- hmm but where to put more:-)

I know I shouldn't buy any more plants but ...Thanks for the comments. Deirdre

only have one hellebore which does not flower, but with your information, hope it will next year. Thank you for suggestions of what goes with what, it is very helpful. Love your segment What I am doing in the garden - we are lucky you are so knowledgeable and willing to share!

Thanks, Margaret. I learnt a lot from the talk by hellebore expert Ingrid Nemetz, and am going to add in to the plant directory the extra information she provided. Deirdre

I'm printing your blog on hellebores and taking it outside to read to my hellebores so they can get their act into gear. We transplanted some baby ones last year, they look exactly as they did then, green, healthy, and not grown a millimetre! the older ones arent bad though!

Great to hear from you, Jil. I attended a talk on hellebores from a local expert on Friday night, and I have included what I learnt from her into the plant reference entry on the site for these hellebores, so that is hopefully more informative. I do think Melbourne probably suits them a bit better than Sydney, but they can still do pretty well here. The baby ones do take a while to get going. Deirdre

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